Hewlett-Packard has ditched chief executive Leo Apotheker, the architect of
its deal for UK software company Autonomy, and installed former eBay boss
Meg Whitman as his successor.

The decision to end Mr Apotheker’s tenure after just 10 months follows an almost 50pc plunge in HP shares since he took one of the biggest jobs in Silicon Valley.

Shareholders’ anger intensified last month when Mr Apotheker announced a $10.3bn (£6.6bn) deal for Autonomy, Britain’s biggest software company, and said he may spin off HP’s personal computer business.

On Thursday night Ms Whitman suggested she remains supportive of the course taken by Mr Apotheker, but that its execution and communication needs to improve. The company will decide whether to spin off the PC business by the end of the year, she said. Ms Whitman, who joined the HP board at the start of the year after failing to become Governor of California, said she is “excited” by the purchase of Autonomy.